Cam Hardware Recommendations
When setting up your home studio it's important to have all the necessary components. We will cover them below. It is also important to be comfortable and make your setup fun and easy to use, we'll give you some tips on that too.
Computer
There is a large variety of computers on the market. Deciding between a laptop or a desktop, is a personal preference. When making your selection, the main functionality of your computer will dictate the kind that you need. Streaming live require large amounts of video processing, so your computer should be suitable for multimedia and compatible with HD-video.
If you wish to use a laptop, we recommend the following in order of appearance:
Keyboard
You want to be flexible and move around, a wireless keyboard is great for this. Here is a good quality keyboard that will keep you from getting tangled up in cords.
Monitor
Here is good quality monitor.
Webcam
Using a computer with a built in webcam will work just fine, but you will get better results with an external webcam. You can buy a usb webcam for the laptop, and this will work great.
This is an amazing webcam with full HD quality. It's under $60 and our #1 recommendation: Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920
Other cams that work well (although we recommend the above) are:
Lighting
Lighting is the most important aspect of your setup. Yes, more important than the webcam.
You may already have lamps or other lights in your home that will work great. LED lights are very bright and do not throw off heat so you will be much more comfortable working under them. Here is a good Light Bar and you can string multiple together.
You may also like a Professional Portrait Studio Lighting Kit or a simple Ring Light
You want to setup your studio with minimum shadows, so make sure to have more than 1 light source. Keep the light above you, you never want a shadow from under; that is what is done in horror film to make look scary. Obviously this is not what you want.
Speakers
The most successful cam models have their audio on and are having fun. Music is a great way to do this and here is a nice set of speakers.
Complete Setup
Putting together a great studio involves multiple components. We have found that physically attaching them to a cart works great. The cart is mobile and when moved even while your online will not shake much.
- Mobile Cart Everything is zip tied to this making it easily movable.
- Zip Ties or Velcro Ties are user to attach each component to the cart
- Some components may not have an easily attach to a cable tie, these two zip tie adhesives will fix that issue, adhesive mounts & Hooks.
- Power Strip. Think about your setup and the length of extension cord you might need, you only want to have 1 cord running from the rig to the wall.
